Cold water fish are high in Omega 3 fatty acids which help to lower blood pressure and can reduce your risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Omega 3 fatty acids are not made by your body and so you must supplement with them. The FDA and EPA recommend 2 – six ounce servings of cold water fish per week. However if you bruise easily, take blood thinners or have a bleeding disorder, you should discuss this with your doctor.

Plaque: By keeping the arteries smooth and free from damage, omega-3s help prevent the plaque that can restrict and harden the arteries (56, 57, 58).

Inflammation: Omega-3s reduce the production of some substances released during the inflammatory response (40, 42, 59)

3. Dandelion

In Native Asia and Europe, dandelion has been used as a natural diuretic for more than a century. Dandelion helps to reduce blood pressure by removing excess sodium (which raises blood pressure) from the body, but without the loss of potassium (helps to regulate blood pressure) which occurs with many other diuretics. In addition dandelion is high in magnesium ( which is critial for proper heart function) and is food for your liver, eyes and skin.

You can eat fresh dandelion in a salad, put it in a stir fry or drink it in a tea, add it to your diet as often as you can to see these health benefits, just make sure it is not grown with harmful pesticides or herbicides.

4. Oats

Oats are high in fiber and magnesium and can help to slow plaque buildup. In a 12 weeks study, researchers divided 88 people into 2 groups. One group at oatmeal and the other ate a refined wheat-based cereal. Researchers found that the group that ate the oatmeal were twice as likely to either eliminate their blood pressure medication or cut in half.

For best results, eat 3/4 of a cup of non instant organic oatmeal per day. By adding skim milk and banana, you are adding extra calcium and potassium as well.

5. Black Beans

Black beans are high in magnesium and have a high fiber to protein ratio. This helps your body to maintain lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels as the fiber helps to scrub artery walls, which can improve blood pressure. In addition, black beans are a high in folate (folic acid) which helps to reduce systolic blood pressure by relaxing blood vessels and increasing blood flow.

400 mcg of folate is considered the RDA (recommended daily allowance), however, 800 mcg a day of folate has been shown to significantly reduce blood pressure. One cup of cooked black beans provides your body with 256 micrograms of folate. Other foods that are high in folate that you can eat ever day to reach 800 mcg are:

Source

Serving Size

Amount of Folate/Serving

DV %

Lentils

1 cup

358 mcg

90%

Pinto Beans

1 cup

294 mcg

74%

Garbanzo Beans

1 cup

282 mcg

71%

Spinach

1 cup

263 mcg

65%

Black Beans

1 cup

256 mcg

64%

Navy Beans

1 cup

254 mcg

64%

Kidney Beans

1 cup

229 mcg

57%

Lima Beans

1 cup

156 mcg

39%

Split Peas

1 cup

127 mcg

32%

Green Peas

1 cup

101 mcg

25%

Green Beans

1 cup

42 mcg

10%

6. Low Fat Dairy

A 2006 study from Harvard Medical School found that people who ate more than 3 servings per day of low fat dairy had a 2.6 point drop in their systolic blood pressure, compared to those that ate less than half a serving per day.

Foods like, skim milk, cheese and yogurt increase calcium, magnesium, and potassium in your body. The low fats helps the calcium to be better absorbed into your system. So aim for at least 3 servings of low fat dairy a day.

7. Beets

Beets are high in nitrates which the body turns into nitric oxide. Nitric Oxide helps to dilate or widen your arteries, which increases circulation. In addition it has an anti-platelet effect that helps prevent blood clots.

A study at Queen Mary University of London found that people that consumed 1 cup of beet juice a day saw their blood pressure return to normal within 24 hours. To make your own beet juice, combine 2 or 3 ounces of beet juice with an equal amount of carrot juice and then slowly increase the amount of beets as your body adjusts to it.

If you don’t like beets, there are other foods that depending on soil conditions may be high in nitrates. Including:

Pomegranate

Radishes

Kale

Celery

Lettuce

Mustard greens

Turnip tops

Spinach

Chinese cabbage

Regular cabbage

Eggplant

Leeks

Scallions

Potatoes

String beans

Carrots

8. Leafy greens

Leafy greens are high in potassium which helps your kidneys to get rid of excess sodium through your urine. This in turn lowers your blood pressure.

Leafy greens, which are high in potassium, include:

romaine lettuce

arugula

kale

turnip greens

collard greens

spinach

beet greens

Swiss chard

We do not recommend canned vegetables because they often have added sodium. But frozen vegetables contain as many nutrients as fresh vegetables, and they’re easier to store.

Once a day chocolate drink naturally
lowers blood pressure and cholesterol

In addition to these daily changes, an easy change you can make is to take a once a day chocolate drink that has the ingredients that have been shown through clinical trials to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, widen (dilate) arteries, reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol, increase circulation, dissolve plaque that is already in your arteries and reduce new plaque from forming.